


Paint me like one of your... canvases

by Stilienski



Series: Sterek ficlets [8]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Art School, Domestic Fluff, Feelings, Fluff, M/M, art therapy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-14
Updated: 2016-04-15
Packaged: 2018-06-02 06:52:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6556042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stilienski/pseuds/Stilienski
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Derek just really likes Stiles' back. The span of fair skin makes a perfect canvas.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I saw this [picture](https://41.media.tumblr.com/998d9fd1b3ac42463c1e0faecca262c5/tumblr_o5muuj6X8W1t7x4k5o1_500.jpg) and thought of Sterek.  
> How weird, huh?  
> Me thinking of Sterek....  
> That almost never happens....
> 
> Both chapters are stand alone fics, but based off the same picture.

Derek couldn’t believe his teacher just gave them that ridiculous new project. Sure, being an art major involved a lot of creative thinking but some things were just impossible to achieve, no matter how much of a creative mind you had. Like “incorporate the human body in your art in a new way”, that was something impossible. After literally over 2000 years of humans making art, after literally over 2000 years of humans studying the human body and incorporate it in their art, it was impossible to actually do something “new” with it. But this project was their final one for the year, it made up 40% of his final grade for this class and he needed to not fail this.

“Derek, you know when that stuck-up prick says “in a new way” he just wants you to do some out of the box thinking and not just do a naked portrait of someone. You know he’s not too bad, you’ve had him as your lecturer last year as well. He always grades fairly, I seriously don’t see what your problem with this task is.” Isaac tried to reason with him, talk some sense into him again, but when Derek got like this there was nothing Isaac could say to stop him from grumping.

“The problem is that the human body is boring. Everyone already knows what it looks like, every painter has at least painted it one time, it has been sculpted countless of times before. The human body is just so boring.” Isaac looked at him as if he was talking nonsense.

“If that’s really how you feel about the human body, Derek, you have definitely not done the right things with the right people.” Derek knew he must look so done right now because he really was. Why was Isaac defending that teacher anyway? Isaac was supposed to be his friend, he was supposed to pick his side in these things.

“You suck. I need to finish this in two weeks and I have no clue what to do.”

“I know the deadline, I need to do this too. So we’re going to have to make a plan. First, get inspiration.” Derek glared at him and if looks could kill, this one would do it slowly and painfully.

“Oh, please, Isaac, enlighten me where you’ve hidden your inspiration supplier. You know, people would pay good money to a dealer like that.” He deadpanned.

“Derek, that dealer is the world.” He accompanied it with a wide gesture, as if to show off the messy dorm room they were sitting in.

“Oh, don’t give me that cheesy artsy bullshit.”

“No, I’m serious. This is going to get you nowhere. You need to get out and just try to find some inspiration. And if it doesn’t work it’ll at least get your mind off of this project for a while. Maybe it’ll even turn that frown upside down.”

*****

He couldn’t believe he’d let Isaac pull him into this stupid club. It was too loud, it was too messy, it smelled awful, it was too crowded, the people were too sweaty, it was too hot, it sucked.

Even though it’s so freaking loud, Isaac managed to tell Derek to stay put while he got them both some drinks. But of course, Isaac came back with no drinks and a guy that was trying very hard to say something, but apparently failing.

“Derek, this is Danny, I went to high school with him.” Well, the guy was attractive…

“Isaac! For god’s sake!” Danny finally managed to scream above the music now that Isaac wasn’t dragging him along. “No offense to you, tall dark and handsome, but I’m here with a friend who needs a distraction.”

“I have one of those too! Is your friend into grumpy guys with bushy eyebrows?” Isaac replied and Derek really just wanted the ground to suck him up right now.

“He might be. Come with me and get him a drink!”

Danny was attractive, but his friend… his friend looked like someone who could show Derek how gorgeous and not boring the human body could be.

So yes, Derek bought the guy a drink. Derek learned the guy’s name was Stiles, he didn’t believe it, but that’s what the guy told him anyway. Derek also learned ‘Stiles’ was studying Electrical Engineering. The most important thing for that night though, was that Derek learned Stiles went to clubs to find guys to sleep with, he’d go to a quieter place if he wanted to talk.

Derek hadn’t ever managed to get out of a crowded club that fast, he’s still not sure how he did it. Luckily Derek’s dorm was close by and neither of them were too drunk to walk. Which was a great thing, because you shouldn’t sleep with a person if they’re too drunk to walk, consent, kids, it’s important.

He’d been right, Stiles did show him how absolutely magnificent and not boring the human body could be, but because of that, he also made Derek forget all about his project. He made Derek forget about pretty much everything. Luckily ‘Stiles’ was strange enough that Derek still knew what to scream out.

It was the morning after when he found his inspiration. Though Isaac would later argue Derek technically found his inspiration that night in the club, because if Derek hadn’t gone to that club, inspiration wouldn’t be lying next to him in his bed the morning after. And inspiration was just so… pretty. A smooth, pale back, dotted with a couple of moles, lined by a white blanket that was barely covering his ass. It was perfect. The perfect canvas.

As he was gathering some supplies around the room, he heard Stiles grumble a little bit at being woken up too early, but he didn’t care about that. Stiles was bound to wake up soon anyway. Like now, as Derek took a seat on that sinful ass, pallet and paintbrush in hand.

“Coming back for seconds already big guy? You should probably get that sheet out of the way though. Bedsheets do not make for good condoms.” So much smartass bullshit that early in the morning should be banned. Derek wasn’t in the mood for talking, he was already in his zone. So of course he didn’t explain anything, and just started painting. But of course his canvas had to squeal and start fidgeting.

“That shit is cold! What are you doing?”

“Painting. Keep still.”

“Painting? What? Are you out of paper? What even is that? Is that going to wash off? Is that even supposed to be on my skin? Do you even know if it’s toxic or not? What if it burns my skin off, dude?” Derek just ignored him as he painted a sunrise. Eventually Stiles even managed to shut up and lay almost still.

Just when Derek was starting to highlight the waves of his ocean the fidgeting got worse.

“Dude, I hope you’re almost done because I really need to pee. I mean, I don’t mind about the sheets and the mattress because they’re not mine, but I’m thinking you do.”

“I’m almost done, keep still.” Derek grumbled and Stiles groaned in response.

“Everyone always told me not to go out with an art major person because they’re kind of crazy. I just thought crazy isn’t always bad, but I guess you just shouldn’t take the risk with crazy. I mean, the line between creative crazy and psychopath crazy is not always that clear and I’m not sure a night of steaming hot sex with a very attractive dude is worth getting killed over by said attractive dude.” Derek rolled his eyes.

“It’s not like I painted you with the blood of my enemies. Let me just take a picture and you can go pee.”

“A picture? Make sure to include my bubbly butt. Because that, that my friend, is a real piece of art.”

“Don’t be an ass.” Derek snapped as he snapped a couple of pictures.

“Let me see.” It’s not like he really gave Derek a say in the matter as eh ripped the camera from his hands just to take a look.

“Oh that’s…. that’s actually good. And not at all as not safe for work as I’d hoped it would be.”

“I thought you had to take an actual piss and not take the piss out of this.” Derek grumped, because you know, that’s his thing.

“Oh shut up and deal with the compliment.” Stiles grumbled back as he got out of the bed. He felt the paint crack on his skin in a couple of places. “Ugh, this is going to be a paint in the ass to get off.”

Derek couldn’t believe he’d actually spent the night with a guy who made puns like that. He didn’t dignify that with a response anyway, he just cleaned his pallet and brush, waiting for Stiles to leave and go shower.

“You know, Derek, next time you should paint a cowgirl on my back. We’ll make it a theme night.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek really loves Stiles' moles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a completely different fic than the first chapter. Just based off the same picture!

They were all cleaning up their supplies after having finished their last project. To make a 3D replica of something they want to remember forever. A couple students sculpted the face of a loved one, there was one person who’d soldered scrap pieces of metal together to make an abstract looking dog and another one who’d made a diorama of her favorite spot to go on holiday. And Derek… Derek had thanked the heavens for letting Stiles gently push him to therapy, because otherwise he’d never gotten to this art class in the first place. Who knew he’d enjoy it so much? Who knew he’d actually be kind of good at it? Who knew that art therapy would actually be therapeutic?

But it was. It was probably the best thing that ever happened to him, aside from Stiles of course. Not that Derek would ever say it out loud. It’s not that he was ashamed about it, he was actually quite proud sometimes of the things he managed to make after a year of this class… therapy… art thing. Derek just didn’t like talking about this stuff for no reason. He had learned to talk though, talk to his therapist, talk to Stiles. Even about the really difficult things, even about his _feelings_.

He’d learned that it was one thing to start caring again but it was another to actually let the people he cared about into his life. Let them know him like he knew them. It was a long process, he still had a long road ahead of him before he’d really be fine again. But for now okay was enough. He hadn’t forgiven himself yet for what happened, not completely anyway. But he’d realized it wasn’t entirely his fault, if he was to blame for anything that happened, he definitely wasn’t the only one. He was still being cautious about his happiness and his love and the whole caring business, but he let himself live in the moment most of the time.

Of course there were bad nights where he still had nightmares about fire and smoke and a maniacal laughing blonde. Or bad days where he tried pushing Stiles away from him to protect him from… from the damage, the ruins that Derek would undoubtedly cause. But Stiles never let himself be pushed away. And after those bad days were over – those bad days were becoming more infrequent, every time being separated by more of the good ones – Derek would pull Stiles as close as possible. Derek would treat him like a prince, apologize for the things he’d said and make up for it with organizing movie nights where he cooked Stiles’ favorite things and cuddled him on the couch the entire night and scented him and loved him and Stiles would hold him close and Derek would know that no one was leaving anyone here.

So yes, he was getting better, and he had his therapist and art teacher to thank for that. Because this class, this 4 hours a day, 3 days a week simple thing was doing what 8 years of time and trying to run away from his problems hadn’t been able to do. After all the things that he’d – that had been – destroyed in his life, after seeing so many important things just crash and crumble around him, of course it was nice to finally create something.

To watch his hands, the hands he’d blamed for so long now, finally make some beautiful things instead of demolishing them. The blood replaced by paint splatter or clay or glue. The claws replaced by scissors or craft knives. He’d even tried his hand at some metal casting (Stiles had cried even though it wasn’t an engagement ring), to see the heat of fire create instead of destroy was probably a really important part in his healing process.

And this last project, recreating what he never wanted to forget had allowed him to actually rebuild his family home. Even though it was just a miniature, an incredibly detailed dollhouse, he was fairly sure that once he got it home and could look at the finished project in peace he’d cry.

Once he was ready for it, he’d use that replica to tell Stiles about some little things. Like how Laura had the room next to him and how her bed used to creak and how he’d rat her out by asking – no, begging – his parents to buy her a new bed. He’d tell Stiles about how his mom couldn’t stop laughing when Christmas rolled along and she gave Laura her new bed, but his dad sat there glaring at Collin the blushing boyfriend.

He’d tell Stiles how he and Cora had made sure to “help” their parents while putting the bed together when Laura spent Christmas eve with Collin’s family. But really they hadn’t screwed everything together properly, were surprised the bed could even hold the weight of the mattress with the way they’d built it. When he was actually ready he’d be able to tell Stiles, with a fond smile on his face, how Cora had spent the night in his room, waiting for Laura and Collin to come upstairs. He’d laugh with Stiles over how his parents had come running when they’d heard the bed collapse, he’d laugh with Stiles like he’d laughed with Cora that night. One day he’d be ready and then this dollhouse would have his back.

The supplies were being put back in the cupboards and their finished products were carefully wrapped in tissue paper and prepared for transport. Right when everyone was about to go home, the teacher spoke up.

“For next time I want you all to think about how you would incorporate the human body in your art. I want you to think out of the box and I want it to be meaningful to you. Not just in a way that the finished piece has meaning, but the way you use the human body in your project needs to mean something to you. You all did very well on this last piece, you’ve really come a long way.” She looked at every one of them for a couple of seconds, fondly as if she was proud of her students. “Okay, that was it for today. Get home safely and I hope to see you all here on Wednesday with fresh ideas in your minds.”

Derek didn’t have to think for long, he knew exactly what he wanted to do for this next project. Stiles. The answer was always Stiles.

Instead of going straight home like he’d meant to do, Derek stopped by the art store first. He went straight to the canvases, picked up the largest one and was on his way to the checkout when he saw it. He’d never really looked at this part of the store, there weren’t supplies there he’d need usually. But those bodypaints… well, the teacher had said to think out of the box and making a portrait, even if it would have a couple of interesting quirks, wouldn’t really count as out of the box.

There was only one issue… Stiles, the answer was always Stiles. So he stopped by the supermarket as well. He got popcorn and chocolate and M&Ms, maybe that would appease his boyfriend for a couple hours.

Because of his detour, Stiles was already in the kitchen cooking when Derek got home. Even though Mondays were definitely Derek’s turn to put some food on the table.

“Hey, I’m sorry, I went by the store and I guess I lost track of time.” But as he put the bags down Stiles just looked over at him with a smile on his face.

“It’s fine. I thought you were just finishing up that project you were working on. You can do the dishes to make it up to me.” Ugh, when had they become so… happy and good together? It was doing things to Derek’s heart, things he wasn’t sure were actually healthy. So to try his best at stopping the racing beating he took the couple of steps to end up right behind his boyfriend and wrapped his arms around him.

“Sure, I’ll do the dishes, how about we watch some movies tonight? I’ve bought some snacks.”

“Sounds good to me.”

After dinner, Derek did the dishes while Stiles got dressed into something comfortable and started his long, long process of picking a movie. But surprisingly, when Derek walked into the living room, carrying the snacks, Stiles had already narrowed it down to three movies. And by the time Derek had gotten his supplies together, Stiles had picked one.

“What’s all that for?”

“Can I paint your back?” Derek and Stiles never really discussed the artsy stuff. Stiles had learned very early on that the things Derek made in his classes were personal, things he was still working through in his head. Occasionally Derek would show him something he finished a while back and then they’d talk about it. Stiles would just look so proud and happy for Derek having found his _thing_ and being so damn good at it. And that the thing was actually helping him through all of that shit he’d been shouldering alone for so long now, that was the best bonus Stiles could wish for.

“Not like paint a picture of your back, I bought bodypaint, it’s for this new thing and… can I paint your back?”

“No dicks though, Sourwolf! If you paint a bunch of dicks on my back, your dick is not going anywhere near the interesting part of my back for a long time, got it?”

“Oh, dang it… now I have to come up with a whole new idea… you make it so hard sometimes.”

“That’s what he said.”

They put on the movie and Stiles took off his shirt, because even if he’d joked about this seconds before, he trusted Derek. He trusted Derek with his life. And Derek trusted Star Wars to keep Stiles’ mind busy enough so he wouldn’t be fidgeting constantly. Derek had a paper plate as his pallet, squeezed out all the colors of bodypaint on it that he would need. He had some water and some brushes, and with Stiles laying down on his belly, Derek had Stiles’ thighs as he perfect seat.

Stiles shivered as the brush touched his skin for the first time, the paint was cold, but the feeling of the brush moving against his skin was oddly soothing. All gentle, careful strokes. Derek noticed that bodypaint was very different to work with, but it was a challenge he’d gladly accept. It dried quicker than acrylics so he actually ended up finishing the piece before the movie ended.

He’d always thought his projects turned out surprisingly well for the fairly limited amount of practice Derek had had, but this one was by far his favorite. It was perfect. Stiles was perfect.

Derek took a couple of pictures, carefully adjusting the lamp standing next to the couch to light his living canvas perfectly. When he was finally happy with a picture he’d taken he showed Stiles.

“Oh wow… that’s a damn good galaxy. Have you been browsing Pinterest again?” He looked a bit closer, even zoomed in on the picture to take a careful look at all the details. “Wait a minute… those stars… are those my moles?” He’d always wanted to map the constellations on Stiles’ back, and now he’d finally done it.

“Yes… they bring something beautiful and unique to my… my universe.” And Stiles just looked at him with those ridiculous doe eyes of his and Derek blushed because, fucking hell that was cheesy.

But that didn’t make it any less true.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed!  
> Leave some kudos if you did <3


End file.
